Tuesday June 25th 2019 - Going home day

The last full day of the holiday was pretty much a 'nothing' day. I'd wakened to a grey sky with much cloud and no matter which direction I looked in it seemed to be fairly widespread. It hadn't cleared up by lunch time so there was no point going out to explore anywhere in particular - Cockermouth is as far as I went, and that was only because I needed to get some milk from somewhere.

Driving back along the lane to the site I had to stop when a stray chicken from the farm decided to leave the grass verge and stroll across in front of me; it reminded me of the old 'Why did the chicken cross the road' joke but this one was going the right way to end up as chicken soup. While watching a bit of tv later on I popped out of the tent to get something from the van and for some strange reason Poppie decided to take advantage of my absence and hop up into my chair; she looked so cute I hadn't the heart to make her get off but she went anyway just a few minutes after I took her photo.

I woke early on going home day to a morning which was so misty I couldn't see much beyond the immediate vicinity, with Skiddaw and the neighbouring fells completely invisible. The mist did clear while I was packing everything up to come home but it was still very grey and just after I left the site I stopped in a lay-by near the River Derwent to take a couple of shots of the low cloud over the fells.

Driving down the west side of Bassenthwaite Lake I stopped for a while at the viewing point for the dogs to have a reasonable walk as I intended to drive the rest of the way home without stopping again. It was still very grey but at long last the clouds were starting to clear and patches of blue sky were beginning to show through; it was still quite warm in spite of the cloud so the walk was very pleasant and I got a few reasonable shots before returning to the van.

As I left Bassenthwaite Lake behind and got further south and east along the A66 I also left the cloud behind and by the time I was going down the M6 the sun was shining from a bright blue sky, making the journey a very pleasant one. With no other stops after the lake one I arrived home just before 5pm, glad that in spite of the previous day being dull and grey the holiday had ended as it began, in full sunshine.

Sunday June 23rd 2019 Part 2 - Bassenthwaite Lake at Mirehouse

The path to the lakeside walk eventually joined the path to St. Bega's Church but instead of going diagonally across the field it went along one side. The semi-comatose sheep from a couple of hours earlier had found their feet and were grazing peacefully but this time they'd been joined by a dozen or so cows, with some of them lying close to the path. They looked fairly docile and under normal circumstances I would have walked past them but having the dogs with me meant that I took a wide semi-circle round them.

The path led me through some more woodland and eventually I emerged at the lakeside where there was a small single storey building and a jetty with two or three dinghies moored up. This is known as The Pier and is used by a local organisation to provide outdoor pursuits for people with disabilities. A minor path took me through woods close to the lakeside and a short distance along I came to a clearing with some simple stone seating and a stone plinth; this is thought to be the place where Tennyson composed much of his 'Morte d'Arthur' poem and the 'Tennyson Theatre' was constructed in 1974 for a reading of the poem to members of the Tennyson Society.

Eventually I veered off the woodland path and back to the lakeside; by this time the clouds had cleared considerably, the blue sky had appeared and the sun was shining properly again. The day was turning out to be really nice and with good views up and down the lakeside I couldn't have asked for much more. At one point the land sloped upwards from the lake and through the trees I caught a glimpse of bright yellow so I went to investigate and came across the most wonderful view over to the fells beyond Mirehouse. 

Back at the lakeside I continued my walk until my way was barred by a partial fence and a mish-mash of various logs and bits of tree trunk so I rejoined the main path which turned uphill away from the lake. Across a field and a ditch and through yet another wooded area the path led me back in the direction of Mirehouse and I emerged on the back drive through the gardens.

Sometime previous to my holiday I'd read - and I can't remember where - that the only way to get to the shore on that side of Bassenthwaite Lake was to go through Mirehouse gardens but as I walked back to where I'd parked the van, on the road near the start of the public footpath to the church, I realised that had I gone past the church when I was down there I could have got to the lakeside without having to pay to go through the gardens - that's certainly something to remember if I should ever go there again. And the lost half of my entrance ticket? - I eventually found it that evening stuck right down in the corner of my pocket where it had been all along.

Sunday June 23rd 2019 Part 1 - St. Bega's Church and Mirehouse Gardens

The sun seemed to have gone on holiday that morning as there was a lot of pale grey and white cloud around but just occasionally I got glimpses of some blue sky up above so in the hope that it would come nice later on I decided to take myself off to find St. Bega's church on the east side of Bassenthwaite Lake and visit Mirehouse Gardens while I was there. 

Mirehouse itself is a country manor built in 1666 by the 8th Earl of Derby and in its lifetime it has only been sold once, in 1688. In 1802 it was left to John Spedding of Armathwaite Hall and various generations and members of the Spedding family have lived there ever since. Starting off as a smaller house it was added to over the years and adapted for several households to live there, and as it's still a family home there are only certain rooms which are open to the public. That being the case I decided that I would rather see the gardens than the house but first was a visit to St. Bega's Church situated in the Mirehouse parkland.

The church can be accessed without paying to go into the gardens, via a footpath a short distance from the garden entrance. It ran past the back of the gardens and across a couple of fields where several semi-comatose sheep were lying under a tree and eventually I arrived at the church which was surrounded by a medium height stone wall. St. Bega's dates from the mid 10th century though it was extensively restored in 1874; over the years it was visited by Wordsworth, Tennyson and Carlyle, and in more recent times it provided the setting for Melvyn Bragg's novel 'Credo'. Services are held there twice each month, it's also used for weddings and funerals and there are Bibles in 28 languages to make any overseas visitors feel welcome. It's quite a simple church and it didn't take long to look round before I collected Sophie and Poppie from where I'd left them, 'hanging' on a convenient railing just outside.

Walking back past the back of Mirehouse gardens I noticed two or three gates into the grounds with notices on them - 'Access for ticket holders only' - so I duly went to purchase a ticket from the tea rooms and handed it in at the entrance, where it was torn in half and one half given back to me. And I hadn't gone more than fifty yards or so when I discovered that I'd lost my half - it must have dropped out of my pocket when I fished out the map I'd just been given (or so I thought) so I went back to the entrance where I was told it was fine, no-one would challenge me anyway, and I was free to wander wherever I wanted.

The gardens were very extensive with several different areas but although they were very nice I felt that, unless I'd missed something, there was nothing really special about them - there were too many trees and not enough colour for me, though I could imagine the place would have looked quite attractive when all the rhododendrons were in full bloom. Once I'd seen just about every area I could see (with the exception of the adventure playground) I followed a path signposted 'Lakeside Walk' - and ended up in what I thought was the nicest part of my Mirehouse visit.